Pubdate: Thu, 17 Jul 2008
Source: Catoosa County News, The (Ringgold, GA)
Copyright: 2008 The Catoosa County News
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/e8DsB78f
Website: http://www.catoosanews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3324
Author: Rachel Brown
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

STUDENT SURVEY SHOWS PERCEPTIONS ON DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE

By 12th grade, most local students say they "agree" or "somewhat 
agree" that getting alcohol is easy.

The same students as a group agreed that it was even easier to get 
smoking tobacco; and those surveyed said that except for tobacco, 
prescription drugs prescribed for someone else were the easiest drug 
of all to obtain, even in front of inhalants like glue and paint.

Ringgold High School Principal Sharon Vaughn said she has been in 
education for 38 years. For her, the Georgia Student Health Survey II 
administered to 423 students in October is just a confirmation of 
what she already knew.

"Quite honestly," she said, "this situation of substance abuse, in my 
opinion, has not changed at all."

In the wake of the prescription drug overdose deaths of several local 
teens - including Ringgold High School student Timmy Smith in March - 
school officials are paying more attention to statistics like these 
and hoping that students will wise up to the dangers of drug abuse.

School resources director Coleman Burroughs said the health survey is 
given to students throughout Georgia in grades six, eight, 10 and 12 
and covers a range of topics. All of Catoosa County's middle schools 
and high schools participated, and students answered anonymously.

Participants took between 30 and 45 minutes to respond to statements 
about drugs, alcohol, school environment and general health by 
answering straight "yes" or "no" questions or by indicating that they 
"strongly agree," "somewhat agree," somewhat disagree" or "strongly disagree."

"It's not scientific, but it's very close," Burroughs said of the 
survey. "I think, by and large, we got a pretty useful sample of information."

Burroughs said the results help educators and the Catoosa County 
Sheriff's Department team up to tailor school-based drug education 
programs, like CHAMPS. They also make teachers more aware of problems 
students face as a group so they can respond accordingly, he said.

The survey shows that students' perception of disapproval by adults 
was different from that of their own-age peers. Fewer students said 
adults would disapprove if they used marijuana than said they would 
disapprove if they used tobacco or alcohol. However, the opposite was 
true when asked about their peers. More students said their friends 
would disapprove if they used marijuana than said they would 
disapprove if they used tobacco or alcohol.

Heritage Middle School Principal Chris Lusk said that while educators 
have done a "pretty good job" in convincing students of the 
harmfulness of tobacco, they need to step up efforts to teach them 
how harmful alcohol and marijuana are.

"I think students watch programming and listen to music that presents 
these two in a way that makes 'recreational' use acceptable," he said.

Lusk said he plans to review the survey results with his 
admininstrative team and counselors.

"I know that they will be able to help formulate ways we can take 
care of the needs of our students," he said.

Many students know they can die from a prescription drug overdose, 
Burroughs said, but they continue to make poor decisions. Part of the 
reason could be that they are dealing with so many pressures 
relatively unfamiliar to the previous generation, educators said.

Vaughn said many students are working to support their families and 
babysitting younger siblings or even their own children; many come 
from broken homes; some have already moved out on their own; and 
others are homeless.

Still others take their home problems with them to school, and often 
abuse drugs or alcohol because of the other complications in their 
lives, educators said. Many lack the influence of a trusted adult, 
and some adults they trust also use illegal drugs, Burroughs said.

"It's just very, very difficult for them to be able to do all these 
things," he said. "They face different stress levels than when I was 
in school."

Students still experiment with drugs and still do so at about the 
same ages, Vaughn said. The only difference is that now more students 
than ever have access to prescription drugs and are abusing them as 
well as the illegal substances.

Catching students who are abusing prescription medications is more 
difficult than catching someone who is high on, for example, 
marijuana or crystal methamphetamine, she said.

"They're so obvious that other kids will tell us," Vaughn said, "but 
with prescription drugs, it is very, very difficult to detect."

According to the survey, prescription drug abuse was more prevalent 
during and after 10th grade than at any other time. The average age 
when students began using prescription
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